MySwag.org The Off-road Camper Trailer Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: kiwipete on October 17, 2012, 08:14:29 AM
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I was just talking to a local Bush Fire guy and he was talking about how a fire left unattended can very quickly become a disaster...
I have been seen many camp sites where people go to bed for the night and just leave the fire going so that the next morning it is easy to get cracking again... I have also been camping many times that in the middle of the night a gale will blow...
How quickly can a bit of wind fire up a smouldering fire and turn it into a dangerous situation...
So this session with the Grass fire threats around and if you have to have a fire please never leave it unattended....
Simple basic information that we all know so I have only posted this as a quiet reminder....
Good Luck
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Simple basic information that we all know so I have only posted this as a quiet reminder....
I hear you loud and clear.
I was told off by a friend when I put the fire out before I went to bed. I don't care what she said Fire safety is priority in my book.
Regards
Crisp Image
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Hi Pete,
A never ending struggle for me not to go and dowse other peoples fires. I make sure I can see no glow from my fire before I go to bed, so do the guys I camp with.
Bunyip
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Seveal years back on a club trip I ran, we drove back along from Tomahawk hut to Buttercup Rd to find 5-6 abandonoed fires, still going reasonably..
We were dousing one of them as the ranger turned up.
He was huff n puff and was majorly pissed off until he saw what we were doing... As he came from the south where we hadn't had a chance to douse any more yet.
He was wrapped that we took the time to stop and put them out. Good PR for our club :) There were 4 of us + kids (hey it was playuin with water and fire!!!) with bottles whatever we could grab. What gave all of us the ****s most was the river was no more than 30ft from the fire places!!!!
I think most of those campsites are now gone/barricaded off.. Wonder why?
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and don't just cover them with dirt, kids can and do fall down and falling into hot coals is not fun...
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G'day KiwiPete,
A timely post with the fire season in some areas well and truly here.
Over the past few of months on some of my day trips I've noticed how the vegetation is tinder dry.
Early last month on one day, there were 17 fires within the Clarence Valley Council area, most were contained quickly, others burnt for a few days before being controlled.
It sure is looking like it will be a dry Summer.
:cheers:
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I'll second this. Last time we were away up on the tablelands, we cooked some sausages for lunch over the fire. We sat down to eat, and left the fire burning away. It wasn't a huge blaze by any stretch of the imagination. One of our party happened to look over while we were half-way through our snags, and the wind had blown some tall, dry grass against the fire. The fire had jumped it's containment, and was now burning about 2-feet up a tree, and just starting to get a hold in the long, dry grass.
One of the boys raced to grab a shovel and clear some more space around the area, another raced to find a sack, while I ran to the camper to get the spare 20L water jerry and pour all over it. Within 5 seconds it was all out and there was no issue, but it really highlighted that if it had gone unnoticed even 10 seconds longer, it might have been a very different story. We would have been lucky to get out ourselves in the cars - there would have been no hope for the campers or any gear.
I'd always been very careful about fires overnight, and ensuring that when we left a spot they were well and truly doused, but I'd never had one get away so quickly while you were using it. So I'm now one of these annoying people who clears at least a 2m firebreak around any fireplace from now on :)
Timely advice Pete.
Cheers!
Matto :)
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Just remember if you're out in the bush and happen to be around an active fire and happen to hear sirens and helicopters DO NOT get out to have a look and the water bombing choppers sound a siren just before they dump their load of between 1/2 and 11 TONNES of water ....
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Definitely a good call to be reminded of this one. Although I would say all the people on this forum would not leave their fires unattended. Its other yahoos that we have to be mindful of.
Cheers
Paul
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Heres something for everyone (http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/publications/firesafetybrochures.htm)
[url=http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_content.cfm?cat_id=192]Or Here.... (http://www.bushfireeducation.vic.edu.au/[/url)
Or Here.... (https://www.fire.qld.gov.au/communitysafety/)
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I think applying some thought and sense when deciding where to put your fire is often all that's needed. In cool damp conditions there's very little chance of a properly sited fire getting away.. the darn things are hard enough to start!
In hot dry windy conditions it's another story, or perhaps no fire at all.
What I hate is the paranoia that seems to confer supernatural powers onto any naked flame. For example the newsletter of one NSW Govt operated lakeside camping/caravan park stated; "no fires are permitted on the lake foreshore as it is highly llegal and dangerous". This lake like all others at the time had been at 50% capacity for some 10 years and the foreshore was nothing but bare gravel and rocks for hundreds of meters in any direction. I searched in vein for any act or regulation prohibiting campfires, then phoned the local fire service. No such law outside of a total fire ban.
The park management wasn't pleased at me pointing this out, as if no right thinking person would even consider lighting a fire. I understand their position given the nutcases they have to account for, but IMO it's no reason to cite legislation that doesn't exist.
I prefer the approach of Wollondilly River Station, whose website proudly announces that they permit campfires at any time of the year except during total fire ban, and that they've never had a campfire related incident in 40 years. These people understand that a campfire makes a camp http://www.wollondillyriverstation.com/id29.html (http://www.wollondillyriverstation.com/id29.html)